ANA reports that several officials of the Department of Small Business Development have been suspended with immediate effect after there were serious allegations of corruption within the unit responsible for incentive scheme administration.
The department in a statement said it had so far (on Thursday) issued nine precautionary suspension letters of which seven were against Black Business Supplier Development Programme (BBSDP) officials and two against Co-operative Incentive Scheme (CIS) officials. The department in August 2017 conducted an investigation into incentive schemes CIS and BBSDP following indicators of fraud identified through the Auditor General’s 2016/17 regulatory audit, visits by the Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development Oversight and observations. The forensic report implicated officials in maladministration, misrepresentation of facts, collusion and contravening the Programme Guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures. The department said it would be laying criminal charges in cases of possible fraudulent activities by the officials, grant applicants and service providers.
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